In July 2010, following the Deepwater Horizon incident, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Shell committed to enhance containment capabilities in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These companies recognized the need to be better prepared in the event of lost control and subsequent containment of a well. This led to the formation of the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC), an independent organization to develop and maintain a well containment system.

US onshore rig count fell this year, but the decline in this longtime benchmark belies the sector’s underlying strength. Some analysts say the more telling numbers are well counts, footage drilled and the number of frac stages completed. “There’s been a massive separation between the key activity...

With an estimated 168 billion bbls of oil in place, the prolific oil sands of Alberta and British Columbia have been a pivotal factor in Canada’s ranking as one of the world’s top oil-rich nations. Abundant with bitumen, with a typical well producing as much as 2,500 bbl/day of oil...